Posts by Jonathan Hoffman

Reform Is Misguided on JNF/Lieberman

Jonathan Hoffman — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:21:30 +0100

http://news.reformjudaism.org.uk/press-releases/statement-on-jnf-event-w...

Avigdor Lieberman is the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. Far from being "outside the consensus of Israel society" both Labour (initially) and now Kadima have no objection to serving alongside him in the government. In fact with 94 out of 120 MKs the Coalition has more support than any other government in Israel's history.

Reform Judaism's statement is therefore based on a false premise. They really should have done their homework first. Many of his detractors resort to lies. For example the Turkish Prime Minister alleged entirely falsely that Lieberman said that Gaza should be nuked. And Lieberman has never denied that "Arab citizens of Israel are fully part of Israeli society with the same rights of free speech as Israeli Jews".

The Reform demarche is also deplorable. Lieberman is in his position as a result of the political process in the Middle East's oldest - if not only - democracy. It is entirely wrong for the Reform to challenge the JNF's invitation to him. He is a Minister whose credentials are accepted by governments around the world including in the UK. (Foreign Secretary William Hague is seeing Lieberman while he is in the UK).

But wait, the Reform Movement of the UK begs to differ .....

*********

Who will be the first in the Reform Movement to say "Not In My Name"?

*********

Postscript #1:
http://www.liberaljudaism.org/news/552-liberal-judaism-responds-to-jnfs-...

As expected the Liberal Movement has followed suit. Well what do you expect of a Movement whose Chief Executive openly supports Ken Livingstone and denies that it's antisemitic to call for "One State" ...

Postscript #2

Counter-demo to oppose the Forces of Darkness: 6:15pm Tuesday, Pillar Hotel, 19 Brent St, NW4 2EU - Hendon Central tube (N Line)- bring a flag

Postscript #3

Great counter-demo - here are the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67529945@N03/sets/72157629855182568/show/

Postscript #4

Admirable JC Editorial:
http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/leader/68067/thats-democracy

How does Shamnesty's Kate Allen Keep A Straight Face?

Jonathan Hoffman — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:29:08 +0100

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/66896/amnesty-chief-stands-its-work-is...

Eighteen years living with Ken Livingstone has clearly had an impact on Kate Allen’s definition of “truth”.

Her denial (JC 26 April ) that Amnesty displays anti-Israel bias surely must rank alongside Bill Clinton’s denial in re Monica Lewinsky for the title of "Most Disingenuous and Egregious Falsehood in History." There is hardly an Israel traducer to whom Amnesty has not given a London platform: Jeff Halper, Ben White, the Christisons, Greg Philo, Tim Lllewellyn and Gideon Levy are just a few examples. Yet when I negotiated long and hard with Amnesty’s Campaigns Director Kristyan Benedict for Ruvi Ziegler to speak there I got precisely nowhere (Ziegler is an Israeli Doctoral Law student at Oxford who is an expert on the law of the Security Fence and a superb speaker).

Add to this (i) that Amnesty played host to the Russell Tribunal which is a Kangaroo Court designed solely to vilify Israel (ii) Amnesty never called for the release of Gilad Shalit and (iii) Amnesty published a report about water resources in Gaza which was mostly fiction, then you can appreciate why - after reading the piece about Allen - I had to check whether the date on the JC was close to Purim.

In this week’s JC Alan Aziz also weighs in …

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/67719/amnesty-boss-attacked-over-israe...

More on Shamnesty here:

http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jonathan-hoffman/whose-human-rights-does-sham...

Adieu Ken Livingstone

Jonathan Hoffman — Sun, 06 May 2012 05:16:51 +0100

Boris Johnson is a supremely gifted man. His command of the written and spoken English language is sans pareil. He writes at lightning speed. He has bucketfuls of charisma - his personality is as powerful at an Afro-Caribbean husting as it is at a Jewish Charity dinner or at Mayor's Question Time. He has impeccable judgment - he knows when to be jokey and when to be serious. And he's very modest. It was not Johnson who told the Press how he had come to the aid of a woman under attack in Camden:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8340865.stm

So congratulations to this thoroughly decent guy (and his campaign team) on a terrific win on Thursday. It was a very different campaign from 2008. Then there was a real bandwagon effect: Johnson started off as a no-hope candidate but as revelations mounted about Livingstone's profligacy at City Hall (eg £36000 for him and his entourage to go to Cuba and Venezuela, and producing "The Londoner", a propaganda sheet read by no-one) so support for Johnson mounted. This campaign was a joyless slog with Johnson doggedly defending his many successes and insisting that Livingstone's plan to cut underground fares by 7% was uneconomic.

What about Livingstone and the Jewish Community?

http://www.timesofisrael.com/livingstone-narrowly-loses-london-mayor-rac...

Undoubtedly Livingstone is unacceptable to the vast majority of Jewish Londoners. He has told me for example three times that Israel should not have been created:

http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=93538

The third time he lied that the previous Chief Rabbi said the same thing.

And undoubtedly those Jews who stuck with Livingstone despite all the evidence should be ashamed of themselves:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/66873/labour-jews-still-critical-endor...

Even Jonathan Freedland refused to support him!

But there was a very heartening statistic in an opinion poll in The Times last week (1 May):

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article3400464.ece

40% of those who intended to vote for Johnson said that Livingstone's poor relationship with the Jewish Community was either a very or a quite important influence on their voting decision.

(See Table 16 here (Boris Johnson column) for the source of that 40% figure:)

http://www.populus.co.uk/uploads/Times-May-2012.pdf

In other words Livingstone's distaste for Israel and her Jewish supporters was not a vote winner.

It was a vote loser.

I find that very heartening. Antisemitism should never be just a Jewish problem.

Postscript:

Two excellent pieces from a centre Left writer - Rob Marchant - here:

http://thecentreleft.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/difficult-decision.html

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/livingstone-failed-be...

Ben White proves the hypocrisy of the Israel haters

Jonathan Hoffman — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:50:55 +0100

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/04/ben-white-proves-hypocrisy-of-a...

People blinded by hate, however - like Ben White - will reflexively push any policy that they believe hurts Israel in the naive hope that eventually they can destroy the state. They have no conception - none - of trying to find solutions that can benefit everyone. For all the thousands of words they churn out, their message always comes down to nothing more nuanced than "Israel bad."

And that is the difference between Zionists and anti-Zionists. Zionists want to find solutions that can benefit even their supposed enemies; anti-Zionists just blindly push whatever they think will hurt Zionists. And anti-Zionists pretend that their hate is meant to help Palestinians - which is the biggest lie of all.

Now to this appalling discrimination against an Israeli, reported yesterday:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/67023/israeli-expert-barred-nhs-sponso...

A trade union cannot dictate the nationality of a speaker at a conference (let alone, one paid for with public money).

The conference organiser appears in breach of the Equality Act 2010.

By consenting to Cristal's exclusion, Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust appears complicit in breaking the law and can be sued.

Please make these points to your MP and to the Health Minister.

Taking Back Our National Sovereignty Again

Jonathan Hoffman — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:29:17 +0100

Yom Ha'atzmaut sameach!

Terrific article by Professor Gerald Steinberg

April 23, 2012 - Times of Israel

In a recent meeting with European officials, diplomats, and journalists, I was asked why many Israelis (including me) criticised and resented their intense efforts to advance peace with the Palestinians and democracy for Israel.

The problem, I tried to explain, was not in the objectives, but rather in the ways that Europeans, in particular, have sought to impose and force their views on Israelis, often via secret processes that manipulate Israeli democracy.

As my inner Zionist took over, I launched into a passionate lecture on the centrality of restoring Jewish national sovereignty after 2,000 years of exile and dependence. I reminded them that after finally regaining our status as a free nation, the last thing that most of us want is to have foreign governments, with their own interests and perspectives, trying to manipulate Israel's most important decisions, regardless of their good intentions.

This was the thrust of David Ben Gurion's addresses to UN committees in the 1940s, and Menachem Begin's impatient meetings with Jimmy Carter in the 1970s.

As Israelis celebrate their 64th anniversary, the relationship between independence and Zionism is still insufficiently understood or accepted around the world. Yes, as our critics argue, this insistence of self-determination, in the deepest sense of the word, can seem stubborn, and, by alienating potential supporters, self-defeating. But without being able to make our decisions, while accepting responsibility for the consequences of these choices, including mistakes, we would not be a sovereign nation on the same footing as all of the others.

For the first years after the creation of modern Israel, Europeans generally seemed to accept the centrality of Jewish sovereignty, reflecting the tragic legacy of oppression ending with the Holocaust. But gradually, as the consequences of Arab rejectionism, wars and terror spilled over into Europe, this understanding was replaced by paternalism and manipulation. In the years and decades following the 1967 war, European leaders began to seek instant solutions to the conflict.

Their peace plans promote the false narrative that automatically defines Palestinians as weak victims and refugees, while blaming Israeli policies, particularly settlements, for the ongoing violence.

While using international frameworks in the effort to impose policies based on this false premise, Europe (including non-EU members Norway and Switzerland) has used funding mechanisms to manipulate Israeli politics and society on a massive scale. Both tactics negate the core principle of national sovereignty.

By funneling tens of millions of euros or pounds every year to a small group of carefully selected Israeli political organisations, European officials are in effect rolling back Jewish self-determination. They operate without checks and balances, and fail to provide details even to their own parliamentary oversight committees, giving some anonymous officials immense power to determine Israel's fate.

This creates a great deal of friction - telling Israelis that grants to Peace Now, B'Tselem, and similar groups are "for our own good" is condescending and counterproductive. Similarly, recent European Union reports on the most complex and sensitive issues such as Jerusalem and Jewish-Arab relations are also based on the claims of these NGOs, and include recommendations that, beyond being unworkable, become additional sources of tension between Israel and Europe. As in other democracies, Israelis make their political choices at the ballot box and through elected representatives, and do not need outsiders to intervene in these processes.

In attempting to defend European intervention in Israel's affairs, some argue that the secret funding of left-wing causes is necessary to offset the private money from Jewish donors that goes to support settlement expansion. This is a weak and unsubstantiated excuse - there are plenty of Jewish donors that support the left, including the New Israel Fund and George Soros. More importantly, the decisions regarding regulations for different forms of foreign funding are issues that our democratic process must decide, and not any outside power allied with individuals claiming, without evidence, to speak in the name of Israeli society.

And then there is the issue of responsibility for outcomes, particularly when the best of intentions end badly, such as the terror wave that followed the Oslo process. For Israelis, making the wrong decision on war, peace and security is often a matter of life or death. If our elected officials make mistakes, we have ourselves to blame. In contrast, how many European officials involved in attempts to dictate these decisions to Israelis will lose sleep, their jobs or their lives if it turns out that they were wrong?

Israel's celebration of 64 years of independence is an opportunity for the leaders of Europe's democracies to reexamine these failed policies, and recognise the centrality of self-determination. However much they may disagree with our decisions, these remain our responsibility as a sovereign and equal member of the international community.

"Good Riddance"

Jonathan Hoffman — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:27:53 +0100

Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC is a ‘human rights’ lawyer who has been riding the legal aid gravy train for nearly fifty years. Indeed somewhat apocalyptically he has threatened that the very necessary reforms of the legal profession’s restrictive practices “threatens the legal profession with the prospect of extinction” (!).

Special pleading? Surely not …

Bindman is also an ASHamed Jew (see The Finkler Question for the origin of this phrase). Last night he chaired a meeting where Gerard Horton presented his new study (funded by the EU) alleging abuses of Palestinian children while in military detention by Israel. The Report includes material from ‘Breaking the Silence” an Israeli NGO which never identifies the names of the former IDF soldiers who provide testimony to it. We also saw a 7 minute film prominently featuring Jeff Halper who wants to see the end of Israel as a Jewish State (an antisemitic ambition). The meeting was held at the London HQ of the National Union of Teachers. Present were the recently convicted Carole Swords:

http://hurryupharry.org/2012/01/28/carole-swords-chair-of-tower-hamlets-...

and the vexatious PSC lawfaremonger Salim Alam:

http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jonathan-hoffman/naming-and-shaming

In the Q+A a woman complained that they sometimes couldn’t get the truth into schools because “the Jewish Chronicle” complains:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/55714/schools-out-tottenham-palestine-...

However there was much applause when she referred to a recent event in Dorset when the maker of the Channel 4 film “The Promise” spoke to schoolchildren and they were shown that mendacious piece of racist drivel:

http://zionistfederation.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/zf-response-to-promise.h...

http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/channel-4-is-not-promisin...

I asked Horton whether the testimonies from children in his study (none of which is attributed to the full name of the child) might not be influenced by the brainwashing they undergo with the aim of turning them into Israeli- and Jew-haters - as evidenced for example by Hamas TV in Gaza. He failed to reply. Richard Millett asked him about one year old Jonathan Palmer who (it is suspected by police) was killed when the car in which he was a passenger veered off the road after a rock went through the windscreen).

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=239403

Horton dodged the question saying that his study did not say that rock throwing was OK – just that children who are arrested for it should be treated properly.

I had to leave early. I was sitting in the front row and as I walked past Bindman he said “Good Riddance”. Hardly befitting of a Knight and QC (albeit 'honorary') who was supposed to be impartially chairing an inevitably controversial meeting. (I am sure he does not say "Good Riddance" to those who might become legal aid clients of his law firm .....).

I am pleased to put on record my response to this rude man: “Go Screw Yourself”....

I understand there were two pro-Israel questioners after I left: Well done whoever you are ...

Postscript #1:

Richard Millett's account:
http://richardmillett.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/psc-allegations-israel-to...

Postscript #2:

Thanks to the reader who pointed out that Bindman reportedly spoke at a meeting at UCL in 2007 organised by the "underpants bomber" Abdulmutallab:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6910129/Detro...

Colonel Eisner: War Hero

Jonathan Hoffman — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:35:24 +0100

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/outpouring-support-for-off...

Hagit Rein, grieving mother of the late Major B’naya Rein who was killed in the Second Lebanon War called the Army Radio to express her dismay at the way Eisner was being judged by the “media court.”
During that war, B’naya Rein assembled a special force to assist damaged tanks. He was killed on that mission for which he had volunteered, and his body remained in enemy territory. At the command level it was decided that rescuing the body was too dangerous, according to the reservists’ letter. Then it was decided they lacked the necessary resources for a rescue mission.

After three days, Shalom Eisner, who was then commander of an armoured battalion, heard about the abandoned body and said it was unacceptable that the body of an army officer would be lying on the ground while his parents were waiting for him at home. Eisner took a jeep, recall his fellow officers and soldiers, put on a flak jacket and went out to get B’naya. “Surrounded by burned-out tanks, missiles flying in every direction, he just went out into the field, loaded the body and brought it back.”

Lt. Col. Eisner’s supporters expressed their complete faith in him “as a man, as a friend and as a moral commander.”

Postscript:

With 100% certainty the usual Israel-Bashers here will post the video of Eisner hitting an ISM provocateur.

WARNING: That video has been heavily edited - it excludes the footage of Eisner's hand being fractured by the ISM BEFORE the incident with the Danish ISM Provocateur.

More on UJS ....

Jonathan Hoffman — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:24:00 +0100

Last Sunday (1 April) was the UJS Student Awards dinner in London.

I have it on good authority that UJS Officers from the platform (Dan Sheldon and also reportedly Emily Black) slandered me and the ZF (which sponsors one of the awards at the Dinner). One of them said that the ZF was not present at the ceremony due to their attendance at an EDL rally (in fact as they knew the relevant ZF staff were abroad organising a youth seminar)

The other called StandWithUs leaders of the 'hilltop youth'.

These comments may have been made in jest but they are in disgustingly bad taste.

If anyone was at the event and would like to tell me more please get in touch. Anonymity guaranteed.

Dan Sheldon of course has form:

http://cifwatch.com/2011/11/23/how-to-most-effectively-advocate-for-isra...

Over 100 called for his sacking after his slandering of me in October:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sheldonout/

If he made these comments last Sunday, he is guilty of appalling judgment and must surely go now.

Jewish students deserve better than leaders whose idea of ‘Israel activism’ is to slander those who are in the front line.

Postscript:

In response to a complaint from the ZF Chairman, Dan Sheldon apologised for the comments made on Sunday night:

Although the comments were not made by me, I'd like to personally apologise, and on behalf of UJS, for any offence caused – it was certainly not our intention to show disrespect to the ZF. The humour was intended to be a satirical comment based on the events of the past few months.

In a second email he wrote:

I should have been explicit in my previous email – of course our apology extends to Jonathan and all at the ZF

Public slur, private apology .... pathetic

Conservative MP Demonises Israel

Jonathan Hoffman — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:03:00 +0100

http://www.canterburyconservatives.com/2012/03/veolia-julian-brazier-let...

This letter from Conservative MP Julian Brazier to Eric Pickles – the UK Minister responsible for local government – shamelessly perverts the truth and is a prime example of how antisemitic discourse has entered mainstream political discourse in the UK

First Israel has done nothing 'illegal'. The right of Jews to settle in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is enshrined in and protected by international law, and underpinned by article 80 of the UN charter.

Second to blame Israel for the strength of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is utterly disgusting and a perversion of the truth. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded well before Israel even existed!

Third to blame Israel for the attacks on British troops in Afghanistan is an appalling libel and to use the natural patriotic sympathies of the British to whip up hatred against Israel is simply criminal.

Fourth Brazier says that an Israeli attack on Iran would threaten peace.

No - It is the deranged regime in Iran which threatens peace.

Does Julian Brazier believe that Britain’s attack on Germany in 1939-45 “threatened peace”?

Fifth "Richard Stainton" whom Brazier "knows quite well" has form as regards Israel-bashing. For example he signed the letter in the Guardian in 2009 trying to get the Science Museum to cancel Israel Science Day:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/16/museums-israel-science

Most of his allegations can easily be verified on the internet

Yes - and so can the allegations of all nutjobs!

To “make mendacious, dehumanising, demonising or stereotypical allegations about Jews” is antisemitic (see EUMC Definition).

Julian Brazier MP: Just what does that make you....?

Terrific Response to Emma Thompson and the other BDS Luvvies

Jonathan Hoffman — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:11:07 +0100

http://mideastparalleluniverse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/israels-habima-the...

Some of the other nations represented will be China, Russia, Turkey, 'Palestine', Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Oman, Armenia and Tunisia. Is there one among these with hands cleaner than Israel's? I don't need to remind you of the human rights abuses perpetrated by each and every one of these countries.

But here's the kicker: The person who was most instrumental, who initiated and worked tirelessly to give the Globe Theatre its second life was Sam Wanamaker, the Jewish American actor who was forced to leave the United States to find work in London as a result of being blacklisted from Hollywood during the McCarthy reign of terror. Sadly, he died a few years before seeing the new theatre fully built, but I would like to imagine that he would be very disgusted with this new witchhunt stigmatizing the only Jewish nation.

Churchill (who wrote the antisemitic tract "Seven Jewish Children" and is a PSC Patron), Margolyes, Miller and Sayle are usual suspects - as is the obnoxious Mike Leigh.

Most of the other luvvies who signed the letter in Friday's Guardian appear to be nonentities....

Remember Crewe and Nantwich! Class Politics Doesn't Work...

Jonathan Hoffman — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:58:36 +0100

Remember the Crewe and Nantwich by-election in 2008?

The by-election was caused by the death of the incumbent MP Gwynneth Dunwoody. Her daughter Tamsin was chosen as the Labour candidate.

The Labour Party ran a vicious personal class-based campaign against the Conservative candidate, barrister Edward Timpson, calling him "the Tarporley Toff", "Lord Snooty" and "Tory Boy Timpson". Labour supporters donned top hats to mock Timpson, whose family owns a national shoe repair and key-cutting business.

The campaign failed miserably. The Conservatives won the seat on a swing of 17.6% from Labour.

Why is this relevant now? Because Labour is attempting to play class politics again. And as at Crewe and Nantwich, it is certain to fail. Because the electorate moved beyond it years ago.

“Class politics” is what Labour’s attacks on the Budget decision on Cornish pasties is about. It was perfectly sensible to remove the anomaly whereby hot pasties were subject to VAT in a café but free from VAT in a supermarket. But Labour portrayed it as an attack on the working class, abetted by a media which has in many cases turned hostile to the government because of the initiation of the Levison Enquiry. John Mann’s questioning of George Osborne in the Treasury Select Committee would have been infantile in a school playground – let alone Parliament:

Mann: “When was the last time you bought a pasty in Greggs?”
Osborne: “I can’t remember when I last bought a pasty in Greggs
Mann: “That kind of sums it up”

And it gets worse. “Class politics” has been followed by “the politics of the absurd” – Labour’s attempt to blame the Government for queues at filling stations.

If you hear on the news that there might be a tanker driver’s strike, what do you do? You keep the average level of fuel in your car higher than normal. That means going to the filling station maybe two or three times a week instead of once. So more petrol will be in the tanks of cars and less in the tanks of filling stations. It’s rational behaviour. And yes if you have a jerry can you might fill that as well. Jerry cans are made for the safe storage of fuel. That’s their USP for heavens' sakes! John Mann’s call for Francis Maude’s resignation - after Diane Hill burnt herself mishandling fuel – is shameful and simply beggars belief. There are safe ways to store and handle fuel and there unsafe ways – why is Mann not saying that, instead of attempting to make political capital out of a tragic accident?

The point is that it is perfectly rational to respond to news of a possible disruption in fuel supplies by keeping the tank of your car fuller. One would do this whatever Ministers say. To blame Ministers for suggesting it is simply shooting the messenger and diverting attention from the real reason for the disruption –namely, the threat of a strike.

Postscript:

I was on Any Answers this week making these points. The recording will be on BBC I-Player for 7 days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01f1kh0

My slot starts at 19 minutes

Jews in the UK

Jonathan Hoffman — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:37:10 +0100

Writing in the Jerusalem Post recently, Vivian Wineman says that Isi Leibler's column (March 7) is “a long way from reality” but promptly shoots himself in the foot by implicitly conceding (by not challenging it) that most of what Mr Leibler wrote was correct. (There really isn’t much difference between the two men’s versions of Mr Wineman’s “access/influence” statement).

Most of the resistance to BDS is being done by grassroots activists, not by the Board of Deputies. StandWithUs and British Israel Coalition are both doing a great job.

In London there are now at least two anti-Israel public meetings every week where antisemitic discourse flows freely. It is a handful of activists (principally Richard Millett and myself) who go to these meetings to make our voices heard and ensure that what is said gets published. Only very occasionally do we see anyone from the Executive of the Board of Deputies and they never make their voice heard.

I myself organised both the fortnightly counter-demonstrations (with leafletting) against the Ahava boycotters and those against the Veolia demonstrators at the Natural History Museum. The Zionist Federation (of which I am co-vice chair) is often referred to by the most senior Board of Deputies members as a “fringe organisation”.

I – not the Board - referred the Charity “ War on Want” to the Charities Commission for telling lies about Israel and met the Commissioners.

I – not the Board - have written to the authorities of the Houses of Parliament about the antisemitic meetings held there in the evenings.

As for Judge Bathurst-Norman, it was me – not the Board - who obtained the transcript of the biased summing–up and wrote about it on cifwatch.com.

Many people – yes including the Board – then complained to the Office for Judicial Complaints but it was I who did the spadework.

The truth is that the Board has sometimes been downright obstructive to activists. An example was the recent motion I brought to the Board suggesting that the Guardian – a newspaper which has unremittingly vilified Israel and on occasions has hosted antisemitism – should be the subject of a Board statement encouraging a boycott by readers and advertisers. By a cynical procedural manoeuvre the Board’s Executive contrived to ensure my motion was never even discussed.

And so on. Mr Wineman contests Mr Leibler’s statement that the situation at universities is “absolutely horrendous”.

It is indeed horrendous. The survey from which Mr Wineman quotes also found that 48% of students who feel “very positive” about Israel experience antisemitism at University.

In other words: Advocate for Israel at a British university and there is a 1 in 2 chance you will be the recipient of antisemitic abuse.... Perhaps Mr Wineman can tell us how bad it has to get before it becomes ‘horrendous’?

75%?

100%?
Many Jewish students are scared to speak up for Israel.

Yet Mr Wineman claims “the situation on campus has measurably improved …” (!)

He also claims that the Board has “helped stem the growth of a fierce BDS movement in the churches.” But the Methodist Church Conference voted nearly two years ago to boycott goods from Judea and Samaria and there has been no sign of this being rescinded. And on universal jurisdisction: Yes the new government elected in 2010 has moved to remove the anomalies that threatened Israelis visiting the UK with arrest, as they promised, after the abject failure of the Labour government to deliver on its promises. But no-one senior from the leadership publicly advocated (as I did) for a change of government.

I turn to the piece on AIPAC – also published on 20 March in the Jerusalem Post – by Jamie Slavin, a staffer on the Board who was at the recent AIPAC meeting.

Mr Slavin argues first that British Jews have far more tangible connections to Israel which means they see it “warts and all” compared with an idealised US view.

I strongly contest the implicit assertion that American Jews are less well-informed about Israel because they are less "connected". All American Jewish students have the chance to visit Israel on a “Birthright” tour. And in any case the idea that Americans are too stupid to educate themselves about Israel’s problems – from media even if not on the ground - is obviously untrue (and many would deem it insulting). Slavin goes on to assert that Israel advocacy in the UK has to be more “nuanced” than in the US (because of a more sceptical public) but that “nuancing” should not be mistaken for “trembling”.

When I see Jewish students on US campuses resisting extremist speakers and BDS advocates – with the support of such organisations as “Stand with Us” – I certainly don’t see a US public which is universally supportive of Israel. Neither should the response – either in the US or the UK – be “nuanced” - whatever that means. The correct response is a proactive robust rebuttal of the lies put round by our enemies.

@Jamie Slavin: Since when was “nuance” the right response to defamation and antisemitism?

Leeds J Soc: JLC Majority Did Not Sign Support Letter

Jonathan Hoffman — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:30:19 +0000

In today's JC there is a great letter from one Melvin Berwald about the utterly misguided decision by Leeds J Soc to disinvite the inspirational and charismatic speaker Brooke Goldstein:

Leeds J Soc deprived students of an inspirational talk ... Leeds J Soc has shown disappointing judgment

Interestingly Michael Bodansky (the Oxford J Soc President) takes issue in his letter with those who believe that Jewish students must never be criticised:

It is within Leeds J Soc's mandate to cancel any speaker; equally communal organisations are entitled to offer a response ... the ZF should be praised for its support of Israel-related matters on campus

But the most interesting letter was the one from members and affiliates of the Jewish Leadership Council:

We wish to express our firmly held view that regardless of whether one agrees with their decision, one must admire the resolve of these Jewish student leaders who dedicate their time voluntarily to improving Jewish student life on campus.

Rather than criticising and embarrassing them for trying to act on the best interests of their membership, we should be supporting, commending and thanking those who take an active role in simply trying to do the best they can with regard to the issues faced at their respective universities.

Signed, Richard Benson, Sir Victor Blank, Sir Trevor Chinn, David Dangoor, Mick Davis, Lord Fink, Henry Grunwald, Lord Janner, Brian Kerner, Hilton Lorie, Jeremy Newmark, Leo Noe, Stephen Pack, Gerald Ronson

(Unaccountably Daniel Grabiner of UJS is missing but of course he signed too).

All these 15 are JLC members or JLC trustees or JLC Vice Presidents.

It's interesting not because of the content (the 'Jewish Establishment' in the UK has long believed that Jewish students are beyond criticism....... Quite why is unclear........)

No - it's interesting because 17 JLC members/trustees/VPs DID NOT SIGN, as follows:

Bill Benjamin, Ilana Fenster, Lucian Hudson, Debbie Klein, Nigel Layton, Steven Lewis, James Libson, Joshua Marks, Bernie Myers, Jenny Pizer, Harvey Rosenblatt, Michelle Vogel, Vivian Wineman, Poju Zablodowicz, David Cohen, Howard Leigh, Lord Woolf ....

Surely they were invited to sign?

The inevitable conclusion is that there is dissent within the JLC's ranks ... how very healthy ...

Postscript:

It seems that this is not the first example of spinelessness at Leeds University:

http://www.melaniephillips.com/the-spinelessness-of-leeds-university

Postscript 2:

http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/65867/leaders-who-lea...

Fantastic piece on LUJS's spinelessness by Melanie Phillips in JC 30/3/12

BDS Lies (contd)

Jonathan Hoffman — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:25:20 +0000

Britain2Gaza ‏ @britain2gaza
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· Details Richard Millet, ardent zionist and pro israeli campaigner arrested outside Conway Hall, London for interrupting a memorial service.

Tapash Abu Shaim ‏ @TapashAbuShaim
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Details Richard Millet of Jewish Chronicle&Harry'sPlace arrested outside Conway Hall 4 interrupt pro Palestinian Jewish lady's memorial @LondonBDS

These tweets are lies - Richard Millett was not arrested. He was surrounded by a BDS mob - one of whom grabbed his camera - and he called the Police for protection

Usual pack of lies from BDS Mob

Leeds J Soc's Shame

Jonathan Hoffman — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:12:34 +0000

Canadian Brooke Goldstein is a dynamic and fearless young New York-based advocate against “lawfare” – the use of the law to stifle free speech and intimidate particularly critics of Islamism into staying silent.

http://www.thelawfareproject.org/

This week she has been in the UK talking at University Jewish societies as well as at other fora including for the Henry Jackson Society in a room in Parliament last night.

Brooke made an inspirational film (”The Making of a Martyr”) about the abuse of children who become suicide bombers. Together with Alistair Leyland she risked her life seeking out and meeting leaders of terrorist organisations responsible for recruiting children for suicide attacks. Incredibly in April 2006, the Second Annual United Nations Documentary Film Festival honoured "The Making of a Martyr" with the "Audience Choice Award" for Best Film.

I was at Brooke’s meeting last night and can testify that she is an inspirational speaker.

But students in Leeds were unable to hear Brooke Goldstein this week. Because Leeds University Jewish Society cancelled her scheduled talk there without even having the courtesy to tell her why.

One can only guess at the reason. A clue is given by previous cancellations of speakers by Jewish students. In 2010 Cambridge University Israel Society cancelled Benny Morris and UJS cancelled Douglas Murray. Brooke Goldstein has spoken out for the right of free speech for Geert Wilders and has advised him as a client on issues to do with free speech. In the crazy logic of these students, that presumably suffices to make her “Islamophobic” (note that she has not said she agrees with Wilders, she just supports his right to free speech). And in the topsy turvy Alice-In-Wonderland world of British academia – where Islamic Societies are free to host the most outrageous racist speakers while Jewish societies insist on playing not just by Queensberry Rules but by gold-plated Queensberry Rules – that was considered sufficient to pull the plug on her.

Tomorrow’s JC calls it “Leeds JSoc's shame”:

http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/leader/65135/leeds-jsocs-shame

The spineless and craven students responsible (reportedly some still wanted the meeting to go ahead and stood their ground) should indeed hang their heads in shame. They were even too ashamed to tell Ms Goldstein why they cancelled her.

Universities are the foremost battle-ground in the campaign to delegitimise Israel. It seems that some Jewish students can hardly wait for the first excuse to raise the White Flag.

Postscript:

The Leeds students have given their reasons here:

http://leedsjsoccampaigns.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/jc-response/

They are not accepting any comments.

Brooke Goldstein is well able to speak for herself and I understand she will do so.

I have watched much of the extract of "The Third Jihad" here:

http://europenews.dk/en/node/51568

I find nothing objectionable, Indeed how can it be since most of it is based on news footage.

Stephen Franklin attempted to post the following comemnt on the Leeds J Soc site:

As a result of reading this post I decided to watch “The Third Jihad” to find out what was so unacceptable about it. The film is largely narrated by an American Muslim and is about the dangers of the radical element Islam within the USA. It would seem to me to be dangerous to close our eyes to the dangers of radical Islam. Calling it unacceptable to be associated with the film, if only by advertising it, would seem to me to be perverse.

British Jews ought to be more concerned about attitudes of some Muslims in the UK. In December 2005 a Populus poll taken for The Times (http://web.archive.org/web/20080424014812/http://www.populus.co.uk/the-t...) asked British Muslims about their attitudes to the Jewish Community in Britain. The results were alarming, not least the view of the majority of those who answered that the Jewish Community in Britain are “legitimate targets as part of the ongoing struggle for justice in the Middle East”.

Quite ....

Postscript:

Brooke Goldstein reports that one Leeds student is interning for her and another has apologised for the way she was treated.

Exposed: UN Media Officer Tweets False Photo

Jonathan Hoffman — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:49:00 +0000

http://honestreporting.com/exposed-un-media-official-responsible-for-fal...

Call on the UN to take the appropriate action by contacting the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs through its Contact page - http://www.unocha.org/contact

Israel Under Attack - Media Falsely Portrays Her As Aggressor

Jonathan Hoffman — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:03:27 +0000

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2012/03/israel-under-attack-media-portray...

Perhaps the worst example of biased reporting to date was The Times of London. They ran a picture of the Israeli Iron Dome rockets launched to intercept and (hopefully) shoot down the Palestinian barrage, and labelled it as an Israeli attack on Gaza.

http://honestreporting.com/times-of-londons-iron-dumb-photo-captions/

LDFI Chair: Jews Must Stop Obsessing About Tonge!

Jonathan Hoffman — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:43:13 +0000

The Jewish community must stop obsessing about her as it only makes her feel more important, gets her more column inches and indeed more appearances on programmes like the BBC's Question Time.

This is from an email but I make no apologies for publishing it

Naughty Jews... Stop obsessing about antisemites....

Postscript: Jihad Jenny is no longer a Lib Dem. At last!

Locked Out!

Jonathan Hoffman — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:58:53 +0000

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/64077/hamas-supporter-azzam-tamimi-spe...

We will never know first-hand what was said at this Israel hate meeting in London tonight

We will never know because Richard Millett was denied entry - even though there was no indication on the publicity that the meeting was not open to all.......

Postscript:

A report is here:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/controversial-palestinian-academ...

Regarding his connections to Hamas, which is banned in the EU over its status as a terror organization, he [Tamimi] said: “I have a great honor to be close to Hamas,” adding that it was only unfortunate that he himself did not have a leadership role within the group.

Having described Hamas chief Khaled Meshal as a close childhood friend, and saying that “all the leaders of Hamas are my friends,” Tamimi added: “I am not ashamed of my association with Hamas. Hamas, in my view, is the true representative of the Palestinian people.”

Yet another terrorist loon given a platform at a British University

Open Letter to Vice Chancellor, Middlesex University

Jonathan Hoffman — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:59:43 +0000

Dear Professor Michael Driscoll

Last night‘s Middlesex University Palestine Society meeting at Hendon was every bit as vile as might have been expected given the speakers – Ken O’Keefe, Ghada Karmi and ‘Jihad’ Jenny Tonge. You can tell how vile it was by the fact that Jihad Jenny was the mildest of the three speakers. In fact O’Keefe was subsequently reported to the Police for suspected Incitement.

Let me introduce you to O'Keefe if you have not had the pleasure:

http://hurryupharry.org/2011/04/15/ken-okeefe-celebrates-hamas-murder-of...

It being Hendon there were quite a few Israel supporters in the audience and O’Keefe’s worst statement was to them:

Like the Nazis [he meant the Germans who resisted the Nazis] you have a special obligation [to oppose Israel]”.

You must know that Jew/Nazi comparisons are antisemitic:
http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/material/pub/AS/AS-WorkingDefinition-dra...

He also repeated the "troofers'" lie that “Israel and Mossad was directly involved in 9/11".

Tonge alleged falsely that “the Jewish Constitution is being changed to make Israel a Jewish-only state”

O’Keefe falsely claimed that Mandela compared Israel to apartheid South Africa. The truth is that in April 2000 Mandela came to London and spoke to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. He spoke of the need for Israel to leave the lands taken in 1967 but not unless there was first recognition of the Jewish State by the Arab States: “I added a second position, that Israel cannot be expected to withdraw from the Arab territories which she legitimately conquered when the Arab States wanted to whip her out of the map of the world.” No mention of ‘apartheid’ in Israel – from a man who spent 27 years as a prisoner of the loathsome apartheid regime in South Africa.

O’Keefe said that Israel’s objective was “to maintain perpetual conflict”

Karmi said that Israelis behave towards the Palestinians as if they were a subhuman species. She said that if a newborn baby is born and dies at a checkpoint the Israelis are pleased because that’s “another Palestinian gone”.

Karmi always says “it is not antisemitic to criticise Israel”. When she says it, I always challenge her to identify an instance when a critic of Israel has been incorrectly labelled “antisemitic” but she never can. This device is simply an attempt to delegitimise complaints of antisemitism – and is therefore itself racist.

Karmi said that 250,000 Israeli Arabs had had property confiscated under the Absentee Property Law (1950). Not true. The Law only applied to people who fled in 1948, not to those who stayed!. (And the Law only applied to long-term absentees. Moreover decisions under the Law are subject to judicial review (as is the case with all administrative decision-making in Israel)).

A shameful meeting. Universities have a duty of care to their students. What action do you propose to take?

Sincerely
Jonathan Hoffman